Up the Creek
"Up the Creek" is the eighth episode of the first season of Total Drama. The two teams take their canoes to a nearby island and build rescue fires. Bridgette starts to have a crush on Geoff, meanwhile, Beth brings a cursed tiki idol which "curses" her team. At the elimination ceremony, Izzy is caught by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, leading to her elimination. Plot The episode opens with Chris explaining the week's challenge to the teams (excluding Beth, who is in the bathroom). The challenge is for the campers to paddle by a canoe to Boney Island, portage their canoes through a two-hour venture in the deep forests of the island, reach the island's other side, where they would then build a "rescue" bonfire, which Chris himself would judge, and finally race back to Camp Wawanakwa in order to win the challenge and invincibility. Chris explains how Boney Island, their destination, has a legend stating that anyone who removes an item from the island will be cursed forever, and then dismisses the campers to begin the challenge. Soon after this, Beth returns from the bathroom, having been absent throughout the explanation, and asks what she missed. Chris summarizes the entire challenge as "canoes", and leaves out his warning about the curse. As the campers pick their partners to ride in the canoe with, Gwen and Trent look to each other with the intent of going across the lake together, but they are interrupted by Cody who proposes Gwen the same offer Trent was giving. Irritated by his interference, Gwen responds by angrily injuring him. Meanwhile, Beth and Lindsay drag Trent off to paddle with them. Seeing this, Gwen reluctantly allows Cody to partner with her on the trip. Geoff is shown to be eager to have Bridgette as his canoe partner, but he is ignored, as she chooses to be partners with her friend Courtney. DJ offers to be Geoff's partner in her place. Geoff admits in the confessional that he feels as if Bridgette is fading out on him, but reassures himself that this cannot be the case. Duncan forces Harold and Sadie to be in his canoe group while Owen partners up with Heather. Leshawna partners up with Izzy, and the latter tells Leshawna that she is "1/87th Cherokee", and that the tribe could claim her at any time. Leshawna hopes that it happens today. Meanwhile, DJ is worried about the canoe tipping over. This causes Geoff to comfort DJ, stating that it will be fine unless the water is rough. In the confessional, DJ explains that he is hydrophobic ever since a horrendous diving board accident during his childhood. Owen cheerfully throws Heather into the canoe and pushes it into the water. Cody also tries to help Gwen by pulling the canoe into the water, but fails at doing so. As all of the canoes are in the water, Chris fires a gun to signal the start of the challenge, but accidentally shoots an eagle in the process. Bridgette tells Courtney that Geoff left her a present that morning in the form of a heart-shaped clay bowl with a torn group photo glued together to make herself and Geoff appear next to each other and an inscription on the back reading "I hope you think of me whenever you drop loose change into this". Both girls find this gesture unbearably corny, as does DJ when Geoff tells him about it. Since Geoff was supportive about DJ's fear of water, DJ felt he owed it to Geoff to give him some love advice so that he could more effectively win over Bridgette. Cody attempts several times to ask Gwen out on a date while they paddle across the lake, only to get a rejection each time. He only gives up when she hits him in the groin with her paddle. Eventually, Cody realizes that Gwen is rejecting him because she prefers Trent. Gwen's attitude towards Cody greatly improves when he offers to put in a good word for her with Trent, with whom he is allegedly close to. Gwen admits she would owe Cody for doing this favor. Cody is then reminded of a bet he made with Owen, which he would win if Gwen would comply and give Cody one of her bras. This causes Gwen to ram her paddle into Cody's groin again, and he realizes that his request crossed the line. The campers arrive at Boney Island, with all, but Izzy spooked by the mysterious mist hovering over the water and the general morbid atmosphere of the island. Eager to get the challenge over with, the two teams, holding their canoes over their heads, race through the forest to the other side of the island. Along the way, they encounter carnivorous woolly beavers, which chase the campers into a swamp-like area before they finally leave the campers alone. Owen ruins his underwear, and in the midst of asking for a spare, he farts, waking the giant birds. The campers again run for their lives. Cody then has an idea, pulling a packaged loaf of bread from his pants (which was originally intended to be for a romantic picnic for himself and Gwen) and throwing it towards the birds. This distracts the birds long enough to allow everyone to flee to safety. As the Bass take the lead, they come to a crossroads. Courtney suggests they take the left path, but Geoff says to go right, which Bridgette agrees with. Geoff looks back and smiles at her, provoking Bridgette to ask what he's looking at. The Gophers are not far behind as they see the Bass taking the right path, prompting them to take the left. Suddenly, Trent falls victim to a pit of quicksand, which was put up by Chris himself, much to his amusement. As he sinks, Lindsay resolves to save him, but only ends up getting stuck herself. Trent calls for help, to which Cody answers by swinging on a vine to grab Trent's hand. He fails to catch Trent and crashes into a tree instead, but the vine comes back to the quicksand area where Trent is able to grab it and pull himself and Lindsay out of the pit. Extremely grateful, Trent and Lindsay thank Cody for his efforts. Cody explains his rope-swinging abilities come from watching several movies. Just as the Bass gain the upper-hand, Geoff becomes injured and can no longer walk on his own. The "injury" turns out to be a mere splinter in his leg, but this incident gets heavily exaggerated by all members of the Bass, even with Bridgette saying the sight of Geoff's injury was worse than seeing surfers getting eaten by sharks. Geoff's incident puts the Bass behind as he must now be carried on top of the canoe held by DJ and Harold. Eventually, both teams make it to the beach to start the second part of the challenge: building a bonfire. Though the Bass are behind, they quickly catch up thanks to Duncan owning a lighter, to which Chris states that there is no rule against carrying one, while the Gophers are forced to start a fire the old-fashioned way, with sticks and rocks. During the fire-building competition, Trent and Cody have a brief talk about Gwen. Cody follows through on his promise to Gwen and informs Trent that she has a crush on him. Trent is reluctant to believe this at first, but seems relieved when Cody assures him that he is telling the truth. Before Cody can give Trent advice on how to handle the situation, Heather interrupts the two, reminding them that they are in the middle of a challenge. While looking for wood, Beth stumbles upon a tiki idol. Due to her being in the bathroom while Chris warned the campers to not take anything from the island, Beth is unaware of Chris's warning about the Boney Island curse on her and her team, and she secretly takes it as a souvenir. Meanwhile, Geoff is dragging himself with all of his strength to contribute to the Bass' fire. Following through on his promise, DJ encourages Bridgette to examine Geoff closely in case he has developed something serious, as she has first-aid training. Courtney is dissatisfied with the size of the fire and orders her teammates to find more wood. In a panic, Harold grabs all of the paddles from their canoes and throws them into the fire, horrifying and angering his teammates, as Bridgette angrily asks how they would get home without them. On the Gophers' end, Izzy creates a handmade fire-starter made of tree sap and other assorted ingredients. She warns everyone to stand back as she tosses the ball into their fire pit, which triggers off a massive explosion. When Heather asks where Izzy learned this technique, she explains she spent a summer training with the Reserves and accidentally blew up the kitchen in a similar incident. She reveals that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are still searching for her, proclaiming herself "like, so totally AWOL". Chris declares the Gophers the winners of the fire-building contest, thus starting the final leg of the challenge: paddling their way back to home base. Before taking off, Cody uses the quicksand incident as an excuse to switch places with Trent so that he can ride with Gwen while Cody rides with Lindsay and Beth on the way back. Both Trent and Gwen are grateful for this. The Bass are left helpless with their paddles burnt. While paddling away, Izzy suggests that someone flutter-kick all of the canoes together from behind. She is cut off by an angry Leshawna for giving the opposing team help, but the Bass do consider Izzy's idea. DJ is chosen to be the swimmer, being the only one strong enough to push all of the canoes at once. Geoff argues against it, knowing full well of DJ's hydrophobia. He volunteers to do it instead, but is not permitted to do so due to his "injury". DJ finally steps up to the plate and says he will do the deed for the sake of his team. With his teammates rooting for him, DJ manages to out-swim every Gopher canoe and make a wipe-out finish at home base, giving the Killer Bass the win and invincibility. Leshawna assures Izzy that she will be the one voted off tonight, since she was the one whom gave the opposing team advice that ultimately helped them win. Izzy seems not to be concerned about the danger she has put herself in, but is quickly chased off by Leshawna with a paddle. During the campfire ceremony, Chris gives the marshmallows to Beth, Trent, Gwen, Cody, Owen, Heather, and Leshawna. The final marshmallow was set to either go to Izzy (who looks quite confident) or Lindsay (who is playing with her hair, seemingly not paying attention). However, before the call can be made, the RCMP abruptly make an appearance from a helicopter, shining their spotlight down on Izzy. Being the notorious liar she is, Leshawna asks Izzy if all the crazy stories she told were actually true. Izzy says that only the RCMP part was true, bids the group farewell, and screams at the RCMP that they would never get her alive. With that, she runs off into the distance, laughing maniacally while everyone else looks on in utter shock or amusement. Chris is the only one apparently nonchalant about the situation, and ends the ceremony then and there. Later that night, Cody finds a bra under his pillow; Gwen rewarded Cody for following through on his promise. He shows it off to Owen, and tells him to enjoy doing his dishes for the rest of the competition as per their bet rules. Glass is heard breaking as the scene cuts to the girls' side of the Bass cabin, to see pieces of Geoff's change bowl that he made for Bridgette all over the floor. Upon reflection, Bridgette has a change of heart and finds it sweet. She asks Courtney for some glue to mend it, despite Courtney's objection, saying that no one would want to fix it, which Bridgette says that maybe she will. Beth is then seen reading by herself, with her tiki doll secured next to her. Ominous lightning strikes as camera pans to the cursed idol, and the screen fades to black. Characters * Beth * Bridgette * Chris * Cody * Courtney * DJ * Duncan * Geoff * Gwen * Harold * Heather * Izzy * Leshawna * Lindsay * Owen * Sadie * Trent * Tiki idol Trivia General * During the episode, Lindsay's clothes are different from her regular outfit. She is seen wearing blue shorts instead of her orange skirt, and a short red top, while her longer red top and brown vest are missing. Continuity * This episode marks the first irregular elimination in the show's history where a camper leaves the show without being voted off. * Water is the third phobia DJ admits he has. In previous episodes, he has stated that he is afraid of both heights and snakes. * This is the first episode in the series that Chef Hatchet does not appear. References * This episode title is a reference to the phrase, "Up the Creek Without a Paddle". * Owen's line "If this canoe's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'" may be a reference to the Stevie Ray Vaughan's song, The House Is Rockin', which features the lyrics "If the house is a-rockin', don't bother knockin'". * Boney Island could be a parody of Skull Island, home to King Kong. ** Much like Skull Island, Boney Island is filled with prehistoric creatures such as the Woolly Beavers and the Stymphalian Canadian Geese. * The plot line of Cody helping Gwen get together with Trent and receiving her bra as a reward is a reference to a plot in the 1984 movie Sixteen Candles (which used panties instead of a bra). Goofs * Toward the beginning of the episode, Lindsay is shown wearing half her bikini bottoms and half her shorts, although in the next scene, it changes back to just her shorts. ** This is fixed on the DVD and iTunes releases. * Two of the campers are shown in their swimwear for only one scene. ** When Owen is approaching Heather to be her canoe partner, he is wearing his trunks. Yet when they approach their canoe, he is back in his regular outfit. ** DJ is in his trunks and missing his cap when he and Geoff approach their canoe. Yet he is in his regular outfit in the very next scene. * After Trent and Lindsay escape the quicksand, Cody walks across the quicksand without sinking into it. * When the campers are listening to Chris at the beginning, Gwen has bags under her eyes, yet they disappear in the next scene. ** This is fixed on the DVD and iTunes release. * When Izzy is seen talking to Leshawna about killing a koala bear, the symbol is the Killer Bass symbol instead of the Screaming Gophers symbol. * As the Killer Bass pass by the Gophers after the latter's escape from the giant geese, Bridgette and Courtney are absent during the scene. * When one of the woolly beavers scares Leshawna and Izzy, Duncan, Harold, and Sadie are in the background, despite being on the Killer Bass. * When Lindsay gets up to hug Cody, her bikini top has the colors of her regular top. * At the beginning of the campfire ceremony, Heather's hair is in a ponytail, but the next time she is seen, it is down. * When Lindsay is braiding her hair during the elimination ceremony, she is wearing her regular outfit again instead of the outfit she had been wearing, and it switches back in the next shot. * In Total Drama Island: The Complete First Season's subtitles, Boney Island is misspelled as "Bony Island" throughout the episode. * After Harold throws the oars into the fire, Duncan is seen with his eyebrow ring on the wrong side. * On the Netflix summary for this episode, it states that Geoff's injury was a "sliver in his hand", when his injury actually affected his leg. Running Gags * Gwen's running gag: When Gwen and Trent were about to decide to ride in a canoe together, Cody comes on to Gwen and tries to make her ride with him. Meanwhile, Beth and Lindsay do the same with Trent. * Leshawna takes no interest in Izzy's stories. See also Category:Episodes Category:Total Drama episodes Category:Episodes focusing on Beth Category:Episodes focusing on Lindsay Category:Episodes focusing on Gwen Category:Episodes focusing on Owen Category:Episodes focusing on Izzy Category:Episodes focusing on Bridgette Category:Episodes focusing on Courtney Category:Episodes focusing on Heather Category:Episodes focusing on DJ Category:Episodes focusing on Chris Category:Episodes focusing on Leshawna Category:Episodes focusing on Trent Category:Episodes focusing on Cody Category:Episodes focusing on Geoff Category:Episodes focusing on all campers Category:Episodes with eliminations Category:Total Drama Island episodes